Horse Chestnut Herb - Exposed

Over the years, Horse Chestnut has been used to treat a variety of conditions, including some that are serious medical problems such as fluid in the lungs, gallbladder pain and infection, diarrhea, fever, arthritis, ringing of the ears, varicose veins, and many more. In fact, it seems horse chestnut has been historically used to treat almost every possible disorder under the sun! Well, unfortunatly horse chestnut is NOT the cure all that historical herbal medicine men used it as. Mankind is still waiting for such a wundercure that actually can treat so many medical problems. But what does modern medicine have to say regarding horse chestnut? Well, it has received a fair amount of interest recently when it comes to treating varicose veins... so lets see if there is any proof to the rumors of a varicose vein treatment.

The History:

Horse Chestnut is native to the balkan islands, particularly to the balkan peninsula. It is a large tree with diciduous leaves and can grow over 100 feet tall. In North America, the Iriquois indians would pulverize the horse chestnut into a powder and use it to reduce chest pains. However, there isn't much history for the herbal or medicinal use of the horse chestnut, probably because much of the raw material contains toxins that are dangerous for human consumption.

The Real Deal:

In spite of the many medical maladies that horse chestnut was traditionally used to treat, many of those have no research or evidence to support any of the claims. In fact, it is possible to have a negative reaction to horse chestnut and it's various components because of the toxicity of the leaves, bark, roots, and seeds.

However, when it comes to the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency, this application in particular has been well studied, and it seems there may be some real promise in clinical trials.

The most common symptom of CVI is varicose veins, but it can also include leg swelling, pain, itching, and ulcers. Currently in accepted western medicine the only two treatments are support hosery and surgury. But the Europian studies are promising, and very real evidence has demonstrated that horse chestnut can greatly aid in the treatment of CVI symptoms, including varicose veins.

CVI is really just poor blood flow in the veins, and primarily affects the legs. There have been 6 placebo controlled studies with a total of 543 participants, and all point to a clear reduction of symptoms attributed to CVI, including varicose veins and pain.

Furthermore, there have been other studies which compare the efficacy of horse chestnut to common prescription meds such as rutosides and pycnogenol, and found it to be comparable in most cases, with the exception of oedema symptoms.

Horse Chestnut Exposed:

So, in spite of the lack of history, and many "rumored" uses of horse chestnut, it currently has some well conducted studies that show it can help reduce sympoms of CVI, particularly when it comes to varicose veins! It is as good as support hosery, and most medications. It's the Aescin compound in the seed that has been credited with these effects, because it is the component of the seed that was studied in these many clinical trials. If you are thinking of using horse chestnut to relieve these symptoms of CVI...it may be exactly what you need! However, always consult a medical professional first.

Dosage:

Since horse chestnut is an herbal supplement, there is no "dosage" per se, however, studies conducted have used manufactured herbal supplements, and they generally contain about 60mg of Aescin per pill.

Most people recommend taking four 60mg pills a day, for a total of 240 mg per day of Aescin.